Large research colleges and universities have permanent staff with front line experience with mechanical systems which are one of the largest cost centers in education facility management.

The IAPMO Group has launched the 2021 revision cycle for the Uniform Mechanical Code; widely incorporated by reference into public safety law in many states.

BSR/IAPMO UMC 1-20xx, Uniform Mechanical Code (UMC). This code provides minimum standards to safeguard life or limb, health, property, and public welfare by regulating and controlling the design, construction, installation, quality of materials, location, operation and maintenance, or use of heating, ventilating, cooling, refrigeration systems, incinerators and other miscellaneous heat-producing appliances. The provisions of this code apply to the erection, installation, alteration, repair, relocation, replacement, addition to, use, or maintenance of mechanical systems.

This document is developed so that its technical concepts correlate with the Uniform Plumbing Code (UPC). The UPC provides standards and requirements to safeguard life or limb, health, property and public welfare by regulating and controlling the design, construction, installation, quality of materials, location, operation and maintenance or use of plumbing systems. The provisions of this code apply to the erection, installation, alteration, repair, relocation, addition to, use, or maintenance of plumbing systems.

Project Need: Designation of the UMC as an American National Standard has provided the built industry with uniform mechanical standards resulting in a reduction in training costs and product development costs, and in price reduction for consumers. This American National Standard provides consumers with safe mechanical systems while allowing latitude for innovation and new technologies. This project is intended to keep the code current.

Comments are due January 3, 2019. We encourage subject matter experts at the workpoint in the education facilities industry — i.e. tradespersons, foremen, supervisors that have a user-interest point of view (the stakeholder who is the final fiduciary)– to participate in the development of the next revision of the Uniform Mechanical Code. As we explain in our ABOUT we find that standards developers routinely attempt to cultivate the user-interest.